E3R in Partnership with Leeds Manufacturing Festival

E3 Recruitment is proud to be the headline sponsors of the Leeds Manufacturing Festival (LMF). LMF, run by the Leeds Manufacturing Alliance and supported by sponsors, the festival aims to promote greater awareness of the range and depth of opportunities careers in manufacturing present for young people in the West Yorkshire region.

Our sponsorship of Leeds Manufacturing Festival is a pivotal investment in the future of the manufacturing industry, fostering talent, and driving innovation in the West Yorkshire region. We are actively promoting diverse career opportunities within manufacturing, attracting a new generation of skilled workers essential for the sector's growth and sustainability. Our involvement with LMF underscores our dedication to advancing the manufacturing industry's interests, ultimately driving economic prosperity and innovation in the region.

What is the Leeds Manufacturing Festival?

LMF, run by the Leeds Manufacturing Alliance and supported by sponsors has an aim of promoting greater awareness of the range and depth of opportunities that careers in manufacturing present for young people in the West Yorkshire region.

Working alongside Ahead Partnership and headline sponsors Leeds City College, Next Gen Makers and E3 Recruitment, LMF has organised a packed programme of events that will run throughout the year. Highlights of the 2024 festival include exhibiting at the Leeds Apprenticeship Recruitment fair, a manufacturing careers showcase hosted by Leeds City College, the launch of a new 'Excellent Engineering Employers Directory' by Next Gen Makers, a series of 'Best practice in manufacturing' company visits for employers, workplace visits for schools and college students and live careers events taking place in schools.

LMF will also see the return of the Leeds Manufacturing Festival awards, celebrating the achievements of outstanding young people working in the industry. Award categories include apprentice of the year, rising star, future manufacturing leader and employer of the year.

“The festival will give students and staff a unique opportunity to engage with Leeds manufacturers and learn more about working environments, careers and progression options. On a strategic level, the college's engagement with the festival will open dialogue about innovation and changes in vocational education and continue to build a collaborative approach to addressing regional skills shortages and the future talent pipeline.”

Gina Yates / Head of Careers, Work Experience and Progression at Leeds City College

What does our sponsorship with LMF mean?

The manufacturing industry has a critical role to play in the economic growth of the UK. However, there is a significant skills gap in the industry, which has been a long-standing issue for manufacturers. With the increasing demand for new technologies, automation, and digitalisation, the industry needs a highly skilled workforce to remain competitive.

By promoting the diverse range of career opportunities available in the industry, the festival is helping to address the skills gap and attract new talent to the sector. Our sponsorship is an important contribution to this effort and reflects our commitment to promoting the success of the manufacturing and engineering sector in Leeds.

We are honoured to be sponsors for a third year for this outstanding initiative that inspires young people to explore the world of manufacturing, and support an exciting programme of events in the coming months and connect young people to the manufacturers of Leeds.

Matthew Booth, Associate Director at E3 Recruitment, said:

“There’s been a 34% drop in manufacturing and engineering apprenticeship starts in the last couple of years, and we also face the growing skills gap which is affecting over 85% of businesses across the UK. The industry is in dire need of new talent, and in need of fresh perspectives and skills that younger generations can bring.

“Manufacturing is such a diverse and innovative space. The opportunities are endless and we find that most young people just aren’t aware of the different roles available that would suit their skillset. It’s an absolute pleasure to be working with Leeds Manufacturing Festival again, and working together to bridge the skills gap.”

Companies sponsoring LMF

Headline Sponsors

Next Gen Makers

Next Gen Makers guides the UK's Manufacturing and Engineering firms to run successful apprenticeship schemes which better attract and retain young talent, through benchmarking, best practice sharing and an employer kite mark accreditation.

Leeds City College School of Engineering

The school of engineering at Leeds City College gears up the next generation of engineers, with passionate experts developing students' practical skills. The school focuses on covering multiple aspects of each specialism, health and safety knowledge, as well as engineering principles, giving students an advantage over competitors.

Sponsors

Greyhound Box

Greyhound box provide a comprehensive managed packaging program, including packing and packaging design, manufacturing and consultancy and customers waste management. Their packaging and supply chain experts work directly with companies to green and optimise their supply chain, in order to reduce their carbon footprint with a focus of driving value to their bottom line.

Leeds Welding Company

Leeds Welding Company is a metal fabricator based in Leeds who are supported by decades of engineering knowledge and experience as well as continual investment in high spec modern manufacturing equipment.

MPM

MPM manufacture and supply composite / fibreglass tooling, moulds and products to enhance supply chains across the world. MPM are an established and award-winning business with a team with over 40 years of experience.

Sound Leisure

Sound Leisure have become the first British company to design, develop and build a commercially viable and widely adopted jukebox platform in the 1970’s, The company went on to pioneer the early development of digitised music platforms in the 1980’s and were responsible for the reintroduction of vinyl jukeboxes in 2016.

Bensons Control Panels

Bensons is a leading UK designer and manufacturer of bespoke control panels and systems. Combining world-class technical innovation with cutting-edge processes and the highest-quality components. They are trusted by companies in a diverse range of industries throughout the world.

Kirkstall Precision Engineering

For over 30 years, Kirkstall Precision Engineering have been at the forefront of global precision engineering, utilising the latest technologies to provide a wide range of global clients turn key solutions that meet their business requirements.

Saftronics

Saftronics specialise in process control systems and LV switchboards for a wide variety of applications across many industrial sectors and are the preferred and trusted supplier of choice for many leading and high profile companies.

Charity Partner

Howarth Foundation

Howarth Foundation are the charity partner for LMF, helping individuals who are, or have recently been homeless in the districts of Leeds and Kirklees get back into employment and training. The charity actively sources employers willing to offer employment and provides those individuals with support, and guidance.

Upcoming events

• Engineering employer's breakfast: making apprenticeships and industry placements work for your business - Wednesday 15th May
• Best practice in manufacturing: company visit to LBBC Group - Thursday 13th June
• 'Next gen' manufacturing leaders and rising stars awards evening - June (TBC)
• UTC Leeds employer carousel - 2nd July & 26th September
• National manufacturing day - 26th September
• Manufacturing and STEM sector showcase at Roundhay school - 2nd October
• UTC Leeds careers fair - November (TBC)

For more information on the above events, click here.

By being headline sponsors of Leeds Manufacturing Festival, we are able to raise the profile of the manufacturing sector within West Yorkshire, promoting the wide range of opportunities that careers in manufacturing and engineering can bring. We are proud to be advocates for the manufacturing and engineering sectors,